There is a beautiful conjunction this week between the crescent moon and Jupiter.
The chart shows the view looking west from London at 21:00 GMT on March 13. By this time the pair will appear in a completely dark sky, but will sit. However, Jupiter is so bright that it will be easily visible before this time, as will the moon shining through the twilight.
On this evening, the moon is just two days past new and will have only 16.5% of its visible surface illuminated. By Saturday, the first week of his current lunar time will be over and the illumination will have grown to 50%, marking the first quarter. The moon will also have moved significantly away from Jupiter by this time and remain in the sky for about half of the night while Jupiter continues to set a few hours after the sun.
The pairing is also visible from the southern hemisphere. From Sydney, , the moon comes close to Jupiter on the evening of March 13 and 14, just after sunset. Look west-north-west. On March 13, 12.6% of the moon’s visible surface will be illuminated. On March 14, the percentage will have grown to 21.3.
